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To demonstrate the usefulness of their discovery, the researchers used the organoids to model the development of a rare neurological condition called microcephaly—in which patients develop an abnormally small head. By modeling the condition in a lab, researchers can reverse engineer it and find out why it develops.

The research team acknowledged that they had not created a full-scale, fully functioning human brain, and that doing so is a long way off, but they said they had accomplished their initial goal—to “analyze the development of human brain tissue and generate a model system…to transfer knowledge from animal models to a human setting.”

7. How Exercise Makes Your Brain Grow

Research into “neurogenesis”—the ability of certain brain areas to grow new brain cells—took an exciting turn in 2013. A study published in the journal Cell Metabolism suggests that not only can we foster new brain cell growth through exercise, but it may eventually be possible to “bottle” that benefit in prescription medication.

The hippocampus, a brain area closely linked to learning and memory, is especially receptive to new neuron growth in response to endurance exercise. Exactly how and why this happens wasn’t well understood until recently. Research has discovered that exercise stimulates the production of a protein called FNDC5 that is released into the bloodstream while we’re breaking a sweat. Over time, FNDC5 stimulates the production of another protein in the brain called Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF), which in turns stimulates the growth of new nerves and synapses – the connection points between nerves – and also preserves the survival of existing brain cells.

What this boils down to in practice is that regular endurance exercise, like jogging, strengthens and grows your brain. In particular, your memory and ability to learn get a boost from hitting the pavement. Along with the other well-established benefits of endurance exercise, such as improved heart health, this is a pretty good reason to get moving. If jogging isn’t your thing, there’s a multitude of other ways to trigger the endurance effect – even brisk walking on a regular basis yields brain benefits.

Researchers from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute at Harvard Medical School (HMS) have also discovered that it may be possible to capture these benefits in a pill. The same protein that stimulates brain growth via exercise could potentially be bottled and given to patients experiencing cognitive decline, including those in the beginning stages of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

"What is exciting is that a natural substance can be given in the bloodstream that can mimic some of the effects of endurance exercise on the brain," said Bruce Spiegelman, PhD, of Dana-Farber and HMS and co-senior author of the research report with Michael E. Greenberg, PhD, chair of neurobiology at HMS.

8. Electrical Stimulation Helps the Brain Put On the Brakes

In the “exciting but frightening” category, research published in the The Journal of Neuroscience showed that harmless electrical stimulation can boost self-control by amplifying the human brain’s “brakes.”

Researchers from The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) and the University of California, San Diego asked study participants to perform simple tasks in which they had to exert self-control to slow down their behavior. While doing so, the team used brain imaging to identify the areas of the participants’ prefrontal cortex (sometimes called the brain’s “command and control center”) associated with the behavior—allowing them to pinpoint the specific brain area that would need a boost to make each participant’s “braking” ability more effective.

They then placed electrodes on the surface of the participants’ brains associated with the prefrontal cortex areas linked with the behavior. With an imperceptible, computer-controlled electrical charge, researchers were able to enhance self-control at the exact time the participants needed it.

"There is a circuit in the brain for inhibiting or braking responses," said Nitin Tandon, M.D., the study's senior author and associate professor in The Vivian L. Smith Department of Neurosurgery at the UTHealth Medical School. "We believe we are the first to show that we can enhance this braking system with brain stimulation."

Though this research conjures a few frightening visions, you can relax knowing that we're a long way from externally controlling peoples' behavior. The true value of this study is to demonstrate that the brain's self-control circuit can be amplified, at least under certain conditions--and eventually that could be good news for sufferers of behavioral disorders like OCD and Tourette Syndrome.

9. Tool That Seeks Consciousness in the Brain

An experimental tool designed in 2013 to “peek” into a patient’s brain and find signs of consciousness could eventually give doctors a way to more accurately judge chances of recovery from serious brain trauma – and in the process change the nature of end-of-life decisions.

Until now, doctors don’t have many methods available to gauge the consciousness of a patient unable to respond verbally or in other subtle ways in response to simple questions--such as blinking an eye, squeezing a hand, or raising a finger. In these cases, typically when a patient has suffered a severe brain injury, there’s ample guesswork that goes into determining whether consciousness is still lingering under the surface.

The best clinical method available to get closer to an answer involves placing the patient in an MRI machine and scanning the brain while telling the patient to envision an action like throwing a ball or running through a field. By tracking activity patterns in the patient’s brain, it’s theoretically possible to tell if the person is able to unconsciously acknowledge and process the request. If it appears that the patient’s brain can respond even though the patient can’t verbalize the response, the person is said to suffer from “locked-in syndrome”.

The problem with this method is that it’s far from clear what the brain activity is actually revealing about consciousness. Significant brain activity is possible even in a vegetative state, and isn’t necessarily a clue that recovery is possible.